Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

This evening we are dispatching the last batch of three senators out of the total of 12 that will be retiring as of 30 June. Tonight, it is two Labor and one Family First. This is largely a night for the Labor Party so the coalition will keep its contribution short but, nevertheless, wants to make some observations about the senators that are leaving us now.

I do confess I used to think I was a bit of a dab hand at giving free character assess­ments to the Australian Labor Party. I think Senator Hutchins is the undisputed master now and he has clearly trumped any attempts I may have made in the past. Senator Hutchins and I, I was surprised to learn, have similar backgrounds. He used to be a forklift driver and a garbage collector. I happened to be a taxi driver and a farm hand and amongst my duty statement was the requirement of the removal of debris from below caged hens, if you get my drift, so we seem to deal in the same substances. It might explain a lot about both of us.

On the fundamental issues facing society it would be fair to say Senator Hutchins and I and most in the coalition shared a similar approach. He was right to have stood up for those issues. He was right to oppose a bill of rights; he was right to dissent on the territories bill. He was right to advocate a debate on nuclear power. In fact as I go through the list I discover he was Right, very Right; in fact, he was a warrior of the Right. I do not know whether I have to put that in the past tense because I understand that he may have resigned from that faction but I will leave that to the Labor Party.